


Adventure Ahoy!

by enigmaticblue



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-29
Updated: 2010-08-29
Packaged: 2017-10-11 08:06:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/110233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enigmaticblue/pseuds/enigmaticblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vala is bored, and Daniel wants to be left alone. Guess who wins.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Adventure Ahoy!

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the schmoop_bingo prompt "adventures". It's my first Stargate 'verse fic. Be gentle. Thanks to spiralleds for the beta!

“I’m bored.”

 

Daniel focused on the ancient text in front of him, ignoring Vala’s complaint.

 

“Daniel. I’m bored.”

 

He sighed. “I’m busy, Vala. Go bother someone else.”

 

“Aren’t you tired of those dusty, old books?” Vala didn’t appear to be budging from the stool next to his, her chin resting on her crossed arms. She was doing that thing where she looked up at him through her eyelashes, and God help him, but it was actually working. “We should go shoot something, or blow something up.”

 

Daniel refocused on the text. “We have a mission scheduled two days from now. It can wait.”

 

“No, it can’t. I’m bored _now_.”

 

“Go talk to Sam,” he advised. “You can do that girl thing.”

 

“_Sam_ is visiting General O’Neill,” Vala replied, and Daniel could hear the pout in her voice. “As you would know if you poked your head out of your office for even a moment.”

 

He glanced up, opening his mouth to respond but Vala cut him off. “And before you ask, Colonel Mitchell is visiting his parents, and Muscles is visiting his son, leaving me here with you.”

 

“And we have a mission scheduled in two days, which means I have very little time to get this finished,” Daniel snapped irritably. “Maybe you don’t have anything to do or anyone to see, but that’s not my problem, is it?”

 

Vala’s face fell. “No, of course not.”

 

Daniel’s gut clenched as soon as she’d left his office, and he rubbed his temples wearily. Cam had his family, Sam had Jack and Cassie, Teal’c had Rya’c, and Daniel had his books. Vala had Cheyenne Mountain, and the team.

 

Daniel tried to go back to his text but he gave up when his mind kept wandering, as he wondered what on earth would amuse Vala that didn’t involve explosives.

 

When he stuck his head in Vala’s room an hour later, she didn’t look up from her magazine. “Vala?”

 

“I’m not talking to you.” She laid on her stomach on her bed and flipped a page for effect.

 

Daniel realized that she wasn’t going to let him off the hook easily, and he entered and took a seat in the desk chair. Her room had a faint floral odor that he found pleasant, and a little distracting. “Vala…”

 

“I’m not.”

 

“I thought you wanted to get out of here.”

 

Vala’s eyes narrowed. “You’re pulling my arm.”

 

“The expression is ‘pulling my leg,’” Daniel corrected, leaning back in the chair. “And no, I’m not, but the offer is only good for another minute.”

 

He made a point of looking at his watch, getting to a count of fifteen before Vala sat up. “I thought you were going to keep reading your boring book.”

 

“It’s not boring,” Daniel shot back defensively. “And I thought if we went on a little trip, you’d leave me alone for the next couple of days so I can finish my translation.”

 

Vala bounced on the edge of the bed. “A trip?”

 

“A short trip,” Daniel qualified. “But you have to hurry.”

 

Vala bounced again, but this time hard enough to get back on her feet. “I’m ready.”

 

Daniel expected the drive from Colorado Springs to downtown Denver to be uncomfortable at the very least. An hour and a half imprisoned in the car with Vala’s invasive questions and his awkward silences sounded like sheer torture.

 

Instead she asked, “Did you see General Landry this morning?”

 

Daniel’s eyebrows went up. “General Landry?”

 

“In his bathrobe,” Vala replied. “It was quite enlightening.”

 

“What—” Daniel stopped, vaguely recalling the alarms activating late the previous afternoon. He’d been working on his translation, and hadn’t been paying attention. “I’m sure it was,” he managed.

 

From there, Vala regaled him with tales of other important men—and a few women—who had been caught with their pants down, so to speak. Most of the time with Vala, Daniel was too busy being annoyed to be amused, but Vala could be quite entertaining when she wanted to be.

 

Vala’s stories made the time pass quickly, and as he parked his car outside of Elitch Gardens, Vala’s nose was pressed against the window. “What is this place?”

 

“It’s called an amusement park,” Daniel replied. “You said you wanted an adventure, right? Well, here it is.”

 

She followed him through the gates, where he paid for two tickets, her eyes wide and a delighted smile curving her lips. “This is wonderful! People come here just to be amused.”

 

“It’s one of those crazy Earth traditions,” Daniel replied, steering her through the crowds. “Jack claimed that no one’s lived unless they’ve been on a roller coaster,” Daniel said, motioning towards the nearest roller coaster, just inside the front gates.

 

He had no idea how she’d respond to roller coasters, but he remembered the last time he’d come with Jack, Sam, Cassie, Janet and Teal’c.

 

Jack had decreed it a shame that Cassie hadn’t been on a roller coaster, and so he’d dragged the whole team along. Daniel hadn’t thought he’d like the rides—he preferred keeping his feet on the ground. But it turned out that after going through the Gate, being shot at, and other daily death-defying activities, roller coasters weren’t that bad.

 

Daniel remembered Cassie stumbling off the first ride, laughing and tugging on Jack’s arm, begging to go again. Janet, who had waited for them on the sidelines, had shaken her head and accused Jack of creating a monster.

 

He felt Vala tugging on his arm. “Where did you go just now?” she asked softly.

 

“Just remembering the last time I was here,” Daniel replied, pushing away the lingering melancholy that the memory caused. He always felt sadness remembering Janet, even though the sorrow had been softened with time. “Are you ready for your first roller coaster?”

 

Vala tipped her head back to stare at the twisting track that rose above them. “Are you sure it’s safe?”

 

“Does it matter?”

 

She grinned madly. “No, it doesn’t.”

 

The line for the Sidewinder was long, but it moved quickly. Vala was nearly vibrating with excitement by the time they climbed into the car. “If you get scared, scream,” Daniel said, repeating the advice Sam had given him on his first trip. “You’ll feel better.”

 

“Are you supposed to scream?” Vala asked, her eyes wide and delighted.

 

Daniel just grinned. “Wait and see.”

 

He heard the cranking of the gears as the car climbed to the top of the first hill and he clung to the safety bar in anticipation. Next to him Vala was craning her neck, looking all around, and as the car paused at its zenith, Daniel heard her draw in a deep breath.

 

“Oh,” she sighed, looking out at the Denver skyline.

 

Any reply he might have made was lost as the car plunged downward. He heard her giddy, joyful screams and felt an answering delight rise up in him. Every worry, every fear, every sorrow Daniel carried along with him was lost in the delightful madness of riding a roller coaster with Vala Mal Doran.

 

When the car screeched to a halt only 90 seconds later, Vala clutched his arm. “We must do that again.”

 

“There are a lot more rides in the park,” he pointed out. “We can ride until they close it down.”

 

The smile she gave him was brilliant; her kiss was far too fleeting. “You have the best ideas,” she announced and bounced out of the car with a laugh. “Come on, Daniel! We’re wasting daylight.”

 

Daniel allowed her to catch his hand and drag him along, twining his fingers with hers. It was the perfect day for an amusement park.


End file.
